Liam Lawson handed warning on chances of full-time Formula 1 drive

While Red Bull boss Christian Horner has tipped Liam Lawson to push his way onto the Formula 1 grid, there is “no guarantee” that happens for F1 2025.

Lawson found himself going from Red Bull and AlphaTauri reserve to AlphaTauri driver in the blink of an eye back at the Dutch Grand Prix.

With Daniel Ricciardo suffering a broken hand in an FP2 shunt at Zandvoort, Lawson was given the nod to take over from the Aussie while he recovered, and it is safe to say that Lawson has not let the opportunity slip through his fingers.

Liam Lawson not guaranteed F1 2025 seat

The Kiwi has more than held his own against team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, yet to be defeated in race trim by the driver now in his third full season with AlphaTauri, leading to increasingly loud calls for Lawson to be given a full-time seat with the team for F1 2024.

That did not come to pass, with Red Bull opting to field Tsunoda and Ricciardo at their junior team next season, though Horner had said it is “only a matter of time” before Lawson gets his full-time F1 opportunity.

However, Horner cannot guarantee that F1 2025 is the year this comes to pass.

“There’s no guarantee of anything in life,” said Horner in an interview with Sky Sports News.

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That being said, Horner made it clear that Lawson has impressed Red Bull greatly with his performances while deputising for the injured Ricciardo.

“I think that he’s done a great job,” said Horner. “He’s really impressed us.

“He’s done exactly what we could have asked for, in terms of grabbing the opportunity, and in Daniel’s absence to really show his capability and that’s turned some heads.

“他所做的很多好,我认为我们孩子们l keep developing him when he goes back into that test and reserve role and he’ll be a candidate, certainly for 2025.”

The wait is now on for Lawson to find out whether he will receive another outing at the wheel of the AT04 in Qatar, with a pivotal simulator session looming for Ricciardo to assess the viability of a return for that round, held from October 6-8.

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